The Depression Project 2

May 18

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“My son Tristan was recently hospitalized and diagnosed with depression. I thought at the time that my world had been turned upside down. As I was navigating this new normal for my son and I, I noticed the negative stigma that came along with the diagnosis of depression.

It was like almost instantly people started to think that Tristan had this horrible disease that could somehow be caught! The looks people gave me when I told them Tristan had depression just broke my heart.

I thought, I want to change this. Tristan is not depression and depression is not Tristan. I want people to see Tristan, the boy who loves Tae Kwon Do, and Fortnite and the boy who has adorable freckles and loves Jordans. I want people to truly SEE Tristan for who he really is. That brought me to the idea for the Depression Project 2. I added the 2 because I also suffer from anxiety and I wanted to show Tristan that he wasn’t alone. There are 2 of us in this together.

While I want to focus on children, I don’t want to limit The Depression Project 2 to children only. I am looking for all types of people. My goal is to highlight a person diagnosed with depression and show who they are as areal person. Plain and simple.

In some ways this initiative is still in the beginning stages, in some it is already being put into motion. What I want from all of this is for Tristan to know that he is not alone, and in turn others can know that they are not alone either.”

~Rhiannon

UMTR2ME is excited to support and partner with The Depression Project 2.

Rhiannon Aragues is the founder of The Depression Project 2, an initiative inspired by her 10 year old son Tristan and his diagnosis with depression. If you are interested in learning more about this unique project or to share your personal story, please send an email to thedepressionproject2@gmail.com. You can also followthdepressionproject2on Instagram for real stories from real people, about real struggles.